Category: Technology

Top court green-lights surveillance of Japan's MuslimsLegal challenge to police profiling of North Asian country's Islamic population dismissed by Supreme Court.Ian Munroe Junko Hayashi is the lawyer for plaintiffs who challenged police surveillance of Japan's Muslim community [Ian Munroe/Al Jazeera]Tokyo, Japan - Mohamed Fujita used to host religious study groups at his home that were open to all Muslims. But today he's afraid to invite strangers, in case they're police informants.Extensive surveillance has put many people of his faith on edge, he says, sowing mistrust.A native of Japan who converted to Islam more than two decades ago, Fujita was one of 17 plaintiffs in a lawsuit that challenged blanket monitoring of the country's followers of Islam. His name has been changed in this story to protect his identity, after police documents labelling…

A Palestinian Village Tries to Protect a Terraced Ancient Wonder of AgricultureBy ISABEL KERSHNERJUNE 25, 2012Continue reading the main story Share This PageShareTweetEmailMoreSavePhoto Palestinian farmers in Battir, a West Bank village near Bethlehem, use a Roman-era irrigation system to water their crops. Credit Abir Sultan/European Pressphoto Agency BATTIR, West Bank — In this scenic Palestinian village in the West Bank hills near Bethlehem, just south of Jerusalem, a week is said to last eight days, not seven. That is because Battir’s eight extended families take daily turns watering their crops from the natural springs that feed their ancient agricultural terraces, a practice they say has worked for centuries.The water flows through a Roman-era irrigation system down into a deep valley where a railway track — a section of the Jaffa-Jerusalem…

Tesla’s inherent safety saves five joyriding teenagers in GermanyThe car left the road, flew through the air and rolled into a field.by Jonathan M. Gitlin - May 9, 2016 6:29pm ISTShareTweetEmail 234What's left of the Model S after a teenager crashed and then rolled it into a field.Sabine HermsdorfDo you have a teenage child that likes to borrow your car and then destroy it in a spectacular crash? We sincerely hope the answer to that question is a resounding "no," but in the off chance that you do, you may want to consider changing your current vehicle for a Tesla Model S. Last week in Germany, the joyriding daughter of a Tesla owner discovered first-hand just how safe the electric vehicle is, after losing control at high speed and rolling into a field.According to German newspaper Merkur,…

Wind power generates 140% of Denmark's electricity demandUnusually high winds allowed Denmark to meet all of its electricity needs – with plenty to spare for Germany, Norway and Sweden too The Conservative UK government has announced a withdrawal of support for onshore windfarms. Denmark’s windfarms have strong government backing. Photograph: Max Mudie/AlamyArthur NeslenFriday 10 July 201513.19 BSTLast modified on Friday 10 July 201515.00 BSTShare on LinkedInShare on Google+ This article is 11 months oldShares210kComments560 Save for laterSo much power was produced by Denmark’s windfarms on Thursday that the country was able to meet its domestic electricity demand and export power to Norway, Germany and Sweden.On an unusually windy day, Denmark found itself producing 116% of its national electricity needs from wind turbines yesterday evening. By 3am on Friday, when electricity demand dropped, that figure had risen to 140%.Interconnectors…

Reading Savarkar: How a Hindutva icon justified the idea of rape as a political toolThe controversial figure castigated Maratha ruler Shivaji for sending back the daughter-in-law of the Muslim governor of Kalyan, whom he defeated.Image credit: savarkarsmarak.com14 hours ago Updated 3 hours agoAjaz Ashraf12K Total viewsShareTweetEmailRedditPrintShareTweetEmailRedditPrintDecades before the sexual assault of women during the 2002 Gujarat and 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots, Hindutva propounder Veer Savarkar justified rape as a legitimate political tool. This he did by reconfiguring the idea of “Hindu virtue” in his book Six Glorious Epochs of Indian History, which he wrote in Marathi a few years before his death in 1966.Six Glorious Epochs provides an account of Hindu resistance to invasions of India from the earliest times. It is based on historical records (many of them dubious), exaggerated accounts of foreign…

History revisited: Was Veer Savarkar really all that brave?Savarkar was chargesheeted in the assassination of Gandhi but exonerated, largely because no corroborative evidence of his involvement was furnished.Yesterday · 08:00 am Updated 13 hours agoAjaz Ashraf10.4K Total viewsShareTweetEmailRedditPrintShareTweetEmailRedditPrintOn May 28, India will commemorate the 133rd birth anniversary of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, who was born on this day in 1883. Bharatiya Janata Party leaders will recall his valour, because of which he has been given the honorific, Veer.But, really how veer, or brave, was Veer Savarkar?Savarkar died in 1966. During his 83 years, he was involved in the political murder of three British officials. From the nationalist perspective, these murders have been cited as examples of Savarkar’s revolutionary zeal to violently uproot British rule, unmindful of the consequences.Savarkar was also chargesheeted in…

Now a chewing gum that treats IslamophobiaA satirical video that challenges discrimination against MuslimsTNM Staff| Friday, May 27, 2016 - 14:10 In an attempt to challenge rising Islamophobia in the United States, the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) has released a mock commercial. The one-minute satirical video, released on Facebook, raises awareness about the kind of discrimination Muslims in the US face in their everyday lives – including being labelled a terrorist. The commercial is for “Islamophobin” a chewing gum that promises to cure people of bigotry and intolerance “within five minutes”. There’s no better way to “spread love” than using humour. Watch the video: